REGINA – Greater Saskatoon Catholic Schools, the Saskatoon Tribal Council and the College of Education Indian Teacher Education Program at the University of Saskatchewan have received the 2017 Premier’s Board of Education Award for their joint submission of “ni ahkwatonâmonân: An Indigenous Language Pathway to Improved Student Learning Outcomes at St. Frances Cree Bilingual School.”

The Saskatchewan School Boards Association (SSBA) co-ordinates the Premier’s Award each year. The award was presented on behalf of Premier Brad Wall during the SSBA Annual General Assembly on Monday night.

“I want to congratulate the partners for winning this year’s award,” Saskatoon Churchill-Wildwood MLA Lisa Lambert said on behalf of Premier Wall. “This award honours the great work they are doing at St. Frances Cree Bilingual School, expanding opportunities for our First Nations and Métis students to improve their learning.”

In their application for the award, the partners said the St. Frances Cree Bilingual Program provides the foundation for students to achieve their full potential and offers an incubation site for innovations in Indigenizing the curriculum and improving First Nations and Métis student learning outcomes.

“We are both honoured and humbled to receive this award for the Cree bilingual program at St. Frances,” said Diane Boyko, Board of Education Chair at Greater Saskatoon Catholic Schools. “When we started this journey with our partners years ago, it was a bit of a risk. We were optimistic about its success, but there were a lot of unknowns about how a Cree language program would be received in the medium- to long-term. Ten years later, we have a thriving school community, and the school is bursting at the seams.”

Boyko said the board is very thankful to have great partners in education and noted that it is very gratifying for a program that embraces Indigenous language, culture, identity and community to be recognized. But even more rewarding is the fact that the innovative programs and supports have resulted in marked improvement in student outcomes, she added.

“The St. Frances Professional Development School (PDS) project is designed to achieve the common benefits of the PDS model, including targeted teacher learning and high student achievement; but it also achieves more,” said Michelle Prytula, Dean, College of Education. “Through its focus on Indigenous student identity and Indigenous language and culture, it sets the bar for teaching and learning models province-wide.”

“One of the TRC calls to action mentions that Aboriginal languages are a fundamental and valued element of Canadian culture and society, and there is an urgency to preserve them,” said Tribal Chief Mark Arcand, Saskatoon Tribal Council. “This award demonstrates what incorporating our identity and language can do for a school in the city of Saskatoon where the Indigenous population is steadily increasing.”

The $3,000 award is sponsored by Xerox Canada. The award recipient is recommended by a panel that includes representation from education sector partners.

“The importance of embedding Indigenous language and culture into the curriculum in Saskatchewan has certainly been internalized by St. Frances’ Cree Bilingual Program,” said Damien Johnston, VP Western Canadian Operations, Xerox Canada. “Their unique approach has helped to integrate the language, history and culture of First Nations/Métis communities, with tools and programs designed to support this innovative approach. The results speak for themselves with increases in attendance and improved performance, not to mention an enhanced sense of belonging for students. We are proud to be associated with St. Frances, congratulations from Xerox on your award!”

Developed in 1999, the Premier’s Award recognizes educational innovations and improvements focused on student achievement that have been advanced or directed by boards of education. The prize is to be used to support or extend the innovation or project.

“The Premier’s Award shines a spotlight on great work being done by boards of education throughout the province,” said SSBA President Dr. Shawn Davidson. “Although there is only one recipient of the award, each submission is worthy of recognition for advancing the goal of improved outcomes for all students.”

REGINA – The Saskatchewan School Boards Association (SSBA) is encouraging everyone to wear orange and to reflect on residential schools for the second officially proclaimed “Orange Shirt Day” in the province.

“Orange Shirt Day is an opportunity for discussion to happen about residential schools,” said Dr. Shawn Davidson, SSBA president. “It is important to build understanding about this history of our province and country.”

Orange Shirt Day is recognized on Sept. 30 each year and is part of a larger movement in the country to provide opportunity for First Nations, governments, schools and communities to unite in a spirit of reconciliation and hope for generations of children to come.

“The history of residential schools is an essential part of our history,” Education Minister Bronwyn Eyre said. “While it is embedded throughout our elementary and high school curricula, Orange Shirt Day provides an important opportunity for students and school communities to come together in the spirit of reconciliation.”

The Orange Shirt Day movement is a legacy of the St. Joseph Mission residential school commemoration event held in Williams Lake, B.C., in 2013. It grew out of the account of a young girl having her new orange shirt taken away on her first day of school at the mission.

At the SSBA Spring General Assembly in 2016, members passed a resolution to request that the Government of Saskatchewan officially recognize Orange Shirt Day.

MUSKOWEKWAN FIRST NATION – Efforts of Saskatchewan schools to improve student nutrition and create healthier environments are being celebrated today with the Mosaic Extreme School Makeover Challenge’s Walk to Breakfast.

“Each year we have the opportunity to visit a winning school and take part in the Walk to Breakfast,” said Sarah Fedorchuk, Mosaic’s Senior Director, Public Affairs. “It’s great to see the project come to life with the grant funding Mosaic provides, but what’s even better is seeing the students’ excitement about what the changes will do for their school and its nutritional environment.”

Since 2006, The Mosaic Company and the Saskatchewan School Boards Association (SSBA) have hosted the Challenge to encourage grassroots initiatives. Ten schools each received $10,000 earlier this year as winners of the 2017 Challenge. Among the winners was Muskowekwan School, where today’s Walk to Breakfast event was held.

“Muskowekwan School can be proud for being chosen as one of the top 10 schools in Saskatchewan for your work to promote a healthier learning environment for students,” said Larry Doke, Minister Responsible for First Nations, Métis and Northern Affairs.

Many schools submitted projects to compete for a total of $100,000 in prizes, provided by Mosaic. Other schools receiving grants this year are part of the Good Spirit, Greater Saskatoon Catholic, Northwest, Prairie South, Saskatchewan Rivers, Saskatoon Public and Horizon school divisions; the Conseil des écoles fransaskoises; and, Key First Nation.

“Our Association is proud to recognize Muskowekwan School and the other winners and we thank The Mosaic Company for this continued commitment to help ensuring students’ health and nutrition needs are met,” said Dr. Shawn Davidson, SSBA President.

REGINA – Students across the province are back in their classrooms and the Saskatchewan School Boards Association (SSBA) is reminding everyone to focus on student safety.

Today has been officially proclaimed as “Provincial Students’ Day” in Saskatchewan to help ensure safety is the primary consideration for students, families and communities, and especially for motorists who will be driving in and around school zones.

“Having a special day set aside to recognize students contributes to helping alert all drivers that students are back in school and extra care for their safety should be considered,” said Dr. Shawn Davidson, SSBA President.

The Government of Saskatchewan officially proclaims Provincial Students’ Day each year at the SSBA’s request, with the intent of reinforcing the message of care and concern for students as they head back to school.

“The safety of our students is of paramount importance,” Education Minister Bronwyn Eyre said. “I’m pleased to support the SSBA’s message to drivers on Provincial Students’ Day to exercise increased caution in their travels, now that students are back in class.”

Provincial Students’ Day was first proclaimed in 2010, in response to a resolution passed by the province’s trustees at the SSBA 2009 Annual General Meeting.

REGINA – The Saskatchewan School Boards Association (SSBA) extended its sincere thanks to outgoing Minister of Education Don Morgan and offered congratulations and welcome to incoming Minister of Education Bronwyn Eyre after a cabinet shuffle was announced on Wednesday.

“We thank Minister Morgan for his service to the province of Saskatchewan and its students during his time as Minister of Education,” said Dr. Shawn Davidson, SSBA President. “We wish him all the best in his new role as Minister of Justice and Attorney General, in addition to his continuing roles as Deputy Premier and Minister responsible for Labour and the Workers’ Compensation Board.”

Davidson also congratulated and welcomed incoming Minister Eyre, who is also Minister responsible for the Status of Women. He noted her history of past service to the K-12 education sector in Saskatchewan as a locally elected school board trustee.

“We look forward to working with Minister Eyre to advance the important efforts happening in our sector to support our province’s students,” said Davidson. “The SSBA and its member boards believe all students should have the resources they need to succeed and achieve, regardless of where they live in the province or their personal circumstances. Education is an investment in our future.”

REGINA – After winning the Mosaic Extreme School Makeover Challenge for 2017, 10 Saskatchewan schools are each receiving $10,000 to support student nutrition.

“At Mosaic, we partner with organizations, like the Saskatchewan School Boards Association, who are making a difference for families and children in our province,” said Sarah Fedorchuk, Senior Director of Public Affairs for The Mosaic Company. “Food security is at the core of Mosaic’s mission. We recognize how improved nutrition can have a positive effect on a child’s ability to learn and we are excited to empower these Challenge winners with the funds they need to support their kids.”

The grants will support winning projects that have goals including developing or expanding school and community gardens; improving education for students and communities about nutrition, cooking, agriculture, food safety and First Nations learnings; purchasing kitchen equipment; and, developing or furthering breakfast and snack programs.

Many schools from across the province submitted their projects to compete for a total of $100,000 in prizes, provided by Mosaic. Schools receiving grants this year are part of the Good Spirit, Greater Saskatoon Catholic, Northwest, Prairie South, Saskatchewan Rivers, Saskatoon Public and Horizon school divisions; the Conseil des écoles fransaskoises; and, Key First Nation and Muskowekwan First Nation.

With Mosaic and the SSBA as partners, the Extreme School Makeover Challenge began in 2006, to encourage grassroots initiatives to improve student nutrition.

“We are proud of our ongoing partnership with The Mosaic Company in support of the Extreme School Makeover Challenge,” said Dr. Shawn Davidson, SSBA President. “We are very grateful for Mosaic’s continued generosity in funding this effort and promoting improved nutrition environments for students across Saskatchewan.”

REGINA – Some of the concerns school boards in Saskatchewan brought forward about a bill to change legislation governing education have been addressed in amendments made at the committee stage.

In particular, Bill 63, The Education Amendment Act, 2017, no longer repeals sections about board rights and responsibilities from legislation into regulations. The revised bill also clarifies language about the local election of trustees. Those had been among concerns identified by school boards.

“We appreciate that the government listened to boards and the public and has now made some amendments to Bill 63,” said Dr. Shawn Davidson, president of the SSBA. “Trustees are elected to be the voice of public education and we think it is vital those roles and responsibilities are preserved in law.”

While those issues have been addressed with the new changes, there remains concern for boards about Bill 63 and the implications of some of its other clauses. Much work is ahead as boards seek to collaborate with the government about the future of the province’s education system.

“The SSBA is calling for a full review of The Education Act, 1995, with the goal of having an updated piece of legislation that truly reflects the needs of the province going forward,” Davidson said. “We would like to see an entirely new act, developed based on collaboration, introduced next year.”

Meanwhile, dealing with significant funding shortfalls continues to be the focus for boards throughout the province as they look toward the upcoming school year. Boards believe all children should have the resources they need to succeed, regardless of where they live or their personal circumstances.

“We are pleased that Bill 63 did not go ahead as originally proposed and we thank the public for adding their voice on that important topic,” said Davidson. “We need communities to continue to stand up for investment in our education system and its importance to the future of our province.”

The following statements were made to media in Regina by SSBA President Dr. Shawn Davidson on April 7, 2017.

On Education Funding Cuts:

“We have some great concerns about some of the things that are going to be happening in the upcoming months as school divisions make difficult decisions connected to this year’s budget. We want the public to understand that all of the member boards around this province are going through a process right now where they are making those difficult decisions and we are very hopeful that all of our partners in education will respect those decisions and understand the situation that has been handed to us. As boards currently have the responsibility to make decisions surrounding the allocation of resources for their school divisions, we have been given resources that are considerably less than they were last year. In fact, our per-student funding on average across the province is down almost $500 a student for the upcoming school year. That’s really significant. And we think it would be remiss of our organization not to let the public know that this is going to cause some pain. The decisions don’t come easy. And when there are cutbacks, they are felt by our kids and by our classrooms. We are here to represent the public and to advocate for the kids. We understand what the province is experiencing financially and we’ll work through this, but we owe it to the public to let them know that we are going to find more efficiencies – we’re working on that every day – but we’re not going to find $55 million worth. There will be changes. That’s the reality.”

On Bill 63, The Education Amendment Act, 2017:

“Bill 63, in essence, moves away the responsibilities of boards from law, which must be changed during the day in a legislative process, into regulations, which are essentially the rules that can be changed in the dark. We have some grave concerns with that. The bill also significantly enhances the responsibilities of the Minister. Had boards been consulted from the beginning on this matter, Bill 63 would not look as it does. Last night at our Spring General Assembly, the Minister asked us to work with the Ministry on this process and moving through with governance changes that are being proposed. We welcome the ability to do that and hope we will have opportunity to work with the Ministry and the Minister in coming up with a bill that amends The Education Act in a way that works for boards and works for government. But to this point, we have not had that opportunity. When other acts have been changed, it’s very common for organizations to be involved in that legislative process from the beginning. All we’re asking for is to be involved to ensure the law that governs education is appropriate for school division governance. Essentially, the act has preserved elected boards as existing; what it has not preserved is the responsibilities of those elected boards. When that happens, elected boards become the face of public education, instead of the voice of public education. We heard loud and clear through the consultation process in January that the public wants elected trustees to be the voice of the public in public education. We are committed to continue to do that, but we fear that an act that moves away those responsibilities will not effectively preserve boards in being that true voice. We’ve got, as trustees, those connections to the places we live and the communities we represent – and it’s vital those connections be preserved in law, permanently.”

REGINA – Reduced funding for education in Saskatchewan as a result of the 2017-18 provincial budget will limit the ability of boards of education to mitigate impacts to the classroom, according to the president of the Saskatchewan School Boards Association (SSBA).

“School boards in Saskatchewan will be dealing with significant challenges as a result of reductions in this provincial budget,” said Dr. Shawn Davidson, president of the SSBA. “While boards each have unique needs and circumstances, inflation and enrolment pressures – combined with the restraint measures in place as a result of the increasingly difficult provincial fiscal situation this past year – will have an impact.”

Boards of education have partnered with the Government of Saskatchewan to work towards the priorities in the Education Sector Strategic Plan and the Saskatchewan Plan for Growth and the SSBA’s member boards want to continue to engage and collaborate to ensure education is the best it can be for students in our province.

“School boards will continue to do everything in their power to ensure students are not negatively affected, but every decision boards of education make can affect the classroom,” Davidson said. “Our member boards firmly believe that all students should have the resources they need to succeed, regardless of where they live in the province or their personal circumstances.”

The Saskatchewan School Boards Association will be surveying its member school boards to understand how the budget affects them. There are 28 school boards in the province, each with unique circumstances, and they will be working in the coming days to identify what the budget will mean for them specifically.

“Education is the most important investment for our province,” Davidson said. “School boards recognize that our province is in a challenging fiscal situation, but our member boards believe that there must be continued investment in students and education to ensure a strong future for our province.”

Investment in education over recent years has increased primarily for capital projects and this certainly has helped with the aging infrastructure and growth many school divisions are dealing with, Davidson noted. He thanked the province for continued commitment to preventative maintenance and renewal funding in the 2017-18 budget.

Regarding education governance, the SSBA heard clearly in recent months from Saskatchewan residents that people want to keep school boards locally elected and keep decision-making close to the communities served. The SSBA and its member boards know the government heard the same messages and are pleased they listened.

REGINA – Thousands of Saskatchewan residents have provided the Saskatchewan School Boards Association (SSBA) with responses that will inform the organization’s submission to the panel that is currently reviewing the governance of education in the province.

The SSBA encouraged Saskatchewan people to “add their voice” to the discussions happening about the future of the education sector based on the Government of Saskatchewan’s “transformational change” agenda. The SSBA’s two-point position – that school boards should remain locally elected and decisions should be made close to the communities they affect – was embraced and supported by many of the thousands of residents who liked, shared, commented and otherwise engaged with the campaign.

“Communities care deeply about the education system in our province and that was evident to us in the responses we received,” said Dr. Shawn Davidson, president of the SSBA. “The valuable insights we gathered echoed what school board trustees hear every day in their work serving the residents they are elected to represent.”

In addition to the feedback received from social media, meetings, letters, emails, etc., more than 1,300 people clicked through from social media and other forums to complete a brief online survey seeking endorsement of the SSBA’s position. About 93 per cent agreed that boards should remain locally elected and about 93 per cent agreed that decision-making about education should remain near to the communities affected. Almost 650 survey respondents also provided specific comments about their views. Highlights from these comments are included in the backgrounder distributed with this media release.

“School boards are committed to continuing to improve education in the interests of all students and we think ‘transformational change’ is best achieved through the success we are seeing with the Education Sector Strategic Plan (ESSP) and other initiatives – and not by eliminating local, democratic decision-making,” said Davidson. “We were buoyed to find broad support for this position among our constituents and will be taking forward their views.”

The SSBA will provide an official submission to the panel appointed by Deputy Premier and Minister of Education Don Morgan to review options for education governance. Those options were summarized in December in a report by governance expert Dan Perrins, who included cautions about the potential consequences of amalgamating school divisions and appointing boards instead of electing them. Other independent experts have also raised concerns.

“The longest-lasting and most-fundamental responsibility of school boards over the past 100 years has been to bring the voice of the public to public education,” said Davidson. “The decisions being made now about school board governance could drastically change the historical roles in our system and the future of education.”